Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (2 October 1878 - 26 May 1962) was an English poet, one of the Georgian poets. Gibson was one of the founders of the Dymock Poets, a community of writers who settled briefly, before the outbreak of World War I, in the village of Dymock in north Gloucestershire.Famous People of Herefordshire, Monmouthshire and Royal Forest of Dean at royalforestofdean.info Life Gibson was born in Hexham, Northumberland. He began publishing poems in magazines in 1895, and the collections Stonefolds, On The Threshold, were published by the Wayland publishers in 1914, and followed by The Web of Life in 1908.'"Young men who knew that the age demanded something new in poetry were impressed by the austerity of his little 'working class' plays". (Joy Grant, Harold Monro & the Poetry Bookshop (1966), p.19. Whistler p.281 remarks on the colloquial, homespun realism that at first was admired in Gibson. During the early part of his writing life, Wilfrid Wilson Gibson wrote poems that featured the "macabre." One such poem is Flannan Isle, based on a real life mystery. Gibson left the north for London in 1914 after his mother died. Despite his residence in London and later on in Gloucestershire, many of Gibson's poems both then and later, have Northumberland settings: Hexham's Market Cross; Hareshaw; and The Kielder Stone. Others deal with poverty and passion amid wild Northumbrian landscapes. Still others are devoted to fishermen, industrial workers and miners, often alluding to local ballads and the rich folk-song heritage of the North East. It was in London that he met both Edward Marsh and Rupert Brooke, becoming a close friend and later Brooke's literary executor (with Lascelles Abercrombie and Walter de la Mare).Gibson met de la Mare, and quite a number of other poets, through Marsh (Theresa Whistler, Imagination of the Heart: The Life of Walter de la Mare (1993), p.205 and 208) in 1912. It was with de la Mare that Gibson was to make the closest friendship. Gentle and unlucky, he himself best fitted Brooke's description of those good-hearted and simple and nice poets he wanted to protect. This was at the period when the first Georgian Poetry poetry anthology was being planned. Gibson was one of the insiders.Paul Delany, The Neo-Pagans (1987), p.199, writes of a business lunch 19 September 1912 at Marsh's flat, with Gibson, John Drinkwater, Harold Monro and Arundel del Re. Recognition While Gibson's reputation was eclipsed somewhat by the Ezra Pound-T.S. Eliot school of Modernist poetry,[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4980 The Literary Encyclopedia] states that his reputation plummeted. Whistler p.282 has Gibson's was the saddest fate of all the Georgians. Once acclaimed as the leader of an exciting new movement, , when that movement came into derision the critics found in him the epitome of its vices.A. Clutton-Brock (TLS, 24/2/1927, ''Five Modern Poets) considers Gibson alongside Eliot, AE, Herbert Read and James Stephens (pp 113-114). It is concluded there that "Mr Gibson's poetry... has its own specific qualities and is, in its essentials unique". In 1942 Philip Tomlinson refers to Gibson as "this distinguished poet" (TLS 31/1/1942 p.57). his work remained popular. His poetry was included by Yeats in the 1936 Oxford Book of Modern Verse. Publications Poetry *''The Mountain Lovers''. London: Elkin Mathews, 1902. *''The Queen's Vigil, and other song''. London: Elkin Mathews, 1902. *''Urlyn the Harper, and other song''. London: Elkin Mathews, 1902. *''The Golden Helm, and other verse''. London: Elkin Mathews, 1903. *''The Nets of Love''. London: Elkin Mathews, 1905. *''On the Threshold''. Cranleigh, Surrey, UK: Samurai Press, 1907. *''The Web of Life: A book of poems''. Cranleigh, Surrey, UK: Samurai Press, 1908. *''Akra the Slave''. London: Elkin Mathews, 1910. *''Fires, Book I: *''The Stone, and other tales''. London: Elkin Mathews, 1912.'' *''Fires, Book II: The ovens, and other tales''. London: Elkin Mathews, 1912. *''Fires, Book III: The Hare, and other tales''. London: Elkin Mathews, 1912. *''Fires'' (Books I-III). . London: Elkin Mathews, 1912; New York: Macmillan, 1912. *''Borderlands''. London: Elkin Mathews, 1914. *''Thoroughfares''. London: Elkin Mathews, 1914. *''Borderlands and Thoroughfares''. New York: Macmillan, 1914. *''New Numbers'' (by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, Rupert Brooke, Lascelles Abercrombie, & John Drinkwater). Ryton, Dymock, Gloucester, UK: Crypt House Press, 1914. *''Battle''. London: Elkin Mathews, 1915 **published in U.S. as Battle, and other poems. London: Elkin Mathews, 1916. *''Friends''. London: Elkin Mathews, 1916. *''Poems, 1904-1917''. New York: Macmillan, 1917. *''Livelihood: Dramatic reveries. London & New York: Macmillan, 1917. *''Hill-tracks. New York: Macmillan, 1918. *''Whin''. London: Macmillan, 1918. *''Twenty-three Selected Poems''. London: Atheneum Literature Dept., 1919. *''Home: A book of poems''. Westminster, UK: C.W. Beaumont, 1920. *''Neighbours''. London & New York: Macmillan, 1920. *''Krindlesyke''. London: Macmillan, 1922. *''Sixty-three Poems'' (selected by Edward Adams Parker). London: Macmillan, 1924. *''I Heard a Sailor''. London: Macmillan, 1925. *''Collected Poems, 1905-1925''. London: Macmillan, 1925. *''The Early Whistler'' (illustrated by John Nash). London: Faber & Gwyer (Ariel Poems No. 6), 1927; New York: William Edwin Rudge, 1927. *''The Golden Room, and other poems''. London: Macmillan, 1928. *''Hazards''. London: Macmillan, 1930. *''Wilfrid Wilson Gibson''. London: Ernest Benn (Augustan Poets), 1931. *''Highland Dawn''. Bradford, UK: Beamsley House, 1932. *''Islands: Poems, 1930-1932''. London: Macmillan, 1932. *''Fuel'' (poems & a play in verse). London: Macmillan, 1934. *''Coming and Going''. London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1938. *''The Alert''. London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1941. *''Challenge''. London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1942. *''The Searchlights''. London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1943. *''The Outpost''. London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1944. *''Solway Ford, and other poems'' (selected by Charles Williams). London: Faber, 1945. *''Coldknuckles''. London: Frederick Muller, 1947. *''Homecoming: An anthology of one hundred and twenty-five poems celebrating the 125th anniversary of Wilfrid Wilson Gibson's birth''. Steel, Hexham, Northumberland, UK: Wagtail Press, 2003. Plays *''The Stonefolds, and other plays in verse''. Cranleigh, UK: Samurai Press, 1907 **also published as Stonefolds. London: Elkin Mathews, 1916. *''Daily Bread'' (18 verse plays). London: Elkin Mathews, 1910; New York: Macmillan, 1912. *''Womenkind: A play in one act''. London: David Nutt, 1912; New York: Macmillan, 1912. *''Kestrel Edge, and other plays''. London: Macmillan, 1924. *''Between Fairs: A comedy''. London: Macmillan, 1928. * Within Four Walls: Five short plays. London: Fortune Press, 1950. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:William Wilfrid Gibson, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Aug. 25, 2014. Mountain Lovers (1902) See also * List of British poets External links ;Poems *Wilfrid Wilson Gibson in Modern British Poetry: "Prelude," "Stone," "Sight" *Wilfrid Wilson Gibson in The New Poetry: An Anthology: "Color," "Oblivion," "Tenants," "Gold," "On Hampstead Heath" * Wilfrid Wilson Gibson in Georgian Poetry 1913-15 (3 poems). * Wilfrid Wilson Gibson in Georgian Poetry 1920-22 (5 poems). *Wilfrid Wilson Gibson at AllPoetry (77 poems) ;About *Wilfrid Wilson Gibson in the Encyclopædia Britannica *Wilfrid Wilson Gibson at Spartacus Eductional. *Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (1878-1962) at Friends of the Dymock Poets *http://www.warpoets.org/poets/wilfrid-wilson-gibson-1878-1962/ Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (1878-1962)] at the War Poets Association. ;Etc. *Elizabeth Whitcomb Houghton Collection, containing letters by Gibson External links ;Poems *Wilfrid Wilson Gibson in Modern British Poetry: "Prelude," "Stone," "Sight" *Wilfrid Wilson Gibson in The New Poetry: An Anthology: "Color," "Oblivion," "Tenants," "Gold," "On Hampstead Heath" * Wilfrid Wilson Gibson in Georgian Poetry 1913-15 (3 poems). * Wilfrid Wilson Gibson in Georgian Poetry 1920-22 (5 poems). * Wilfrid Wilson Gibson at PoemHunter (5 poems) *Wilfrid Wilson Gibson at AllPoetry (77 poems) ;About *Wilfrid Wilson Gibson in the Encyclopædia Britannica *Wilfrid Wilson Gibson at Spartacus Eductional. *Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (1878-1962) at Friends of the Dymock Poets *http://www.warpoets.org/poets/wilfrid-wilson-gibson-1878-1962/ Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (1878-1962)] at the War Poets Association. ;Etc. *Elizabeth Whitcomb Houghton Collection, containing letters by Gibson Category:1878 births Category:1962 deaths Category:English poets Category:People from Hexham Category:British Army soldiers Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:British World War I poets Category:20th-century poets Category:Poets Category:English-language poets Category:Dymock poets Category:Georgian poets